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by erin-dilaurentis
Summary: When there's a knock on Alison's door one afternoon, she's rattling her brain to figure out who it could be. She'd never imagine another DiLaurentis would make their way to Beacon Heights. - Jason confronts Alison about her and Emily's marital problems.
1. Chapter 1

Alison was minding her own business. Glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, lost in a sea of the latest papers she'd assigned to her class. Thankfully, the majority of the kids in her class knew what they were talking about and she didn't have to suffer through too many awful papers.

She had just made it halfway through another student's essay when she heard a rather vigorous knock on her front door. She glanced at the clock on her wall. Quarter past 5pm. Who could possibly be coming to her house at this time?

She scurried to the door and opened it tentatively. Relief washed over her when she saw the familiar blonde locks and blue eyes matching hers looking back at her.

"Jason!" she exclaimed, launching herself into his arms.

He wrapped his arms around her but she noticed something immediately wrong. What was he even doing here?

He let her go and she settled back on her feet. When they made eye contact, Ali was shocked to see the unpleased look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" she asked innocently.

"Funny," he said, brushing past her and into her residence, "I was just going to ask you the same thing."

Ali shut the door behind her and wrapped her arms around herself. She knew what was coming from a mile away.

"Imagine my surprise when I made an impromptu trip to Rosewood to see my sister and her family to find out that she's moved across the country. By herself."

"Jason," Ali warned, feeling the tears start to well up in her eyes, "Don't."

"I just don't get it, Ali," Jason said, his tone frustrated.

"And you think I do?" Alison snapped, plopping down on her couch, her head in her hands.

"You seemed fine when I saw you at Christmas! You couldn't get your hands off of each other. I just don't get it. You were happy!"

"Yeah, until we're not. And the 'not' portion of that equation became more and more prominent than the former in the passing months."

"Ali," Jason said, his tone a bit softer. He could see the look in his sister's eyes. She really had tried everything she could think of. He walked over and sat next to her on the couch. Her head was still in her hands and he could see she was trying to fight back the tears that had inevitably fallen too many times in the passing months since he'd last seen her.

He put his hand gently on her back and tried to soothe her.

"Why didn't you tell me this was going on? I could have helped."

"No one could have helped," she said, looking forward and wiping her eyes.

"Have you tried couples counseling?" he asked, probably already knowing the answer.

"We tried everything. I don't know what to do anymore Jason. I thought that we were happy. I've given it everything I have. She's just not there anymore."

"You can't just give up, Alison. You love her."

"Jason, I love her more than anything. I just don't think the same thing can be said of her anymore."

"I don't think that's true," was all Jason could think to say.

"So I'm guessing you saw her. How is she?"

"She seemed," Jason paused for a moment before answering, "She seemed fine."

"Of course," Alison said, standing up to pace around the room.

"Ali, you have to go back. You have to fix this. For the girls. And for you," Jason pleaded.

"I already told you, Jason. There is no fixing this. She doesn't want me there!" Ali exclaimed.

"She does want you there. Emily loves you, Ali."

"Then why did she me to leave?" Ali raised her voice again.

"So you just left?!" Jason fought back.

"What was I supposed to do?" Alison yelled.

"Fight. You sit there and you fight."

"I'm tired of fighting."

"So what? You're just going to walk away? From the two little girls who worship you and from the love of your life? You're just going to walk away from everything you've waited your whole life for?" He asked.

Alison took a deep breath and tried to ground herself again before speaking.

"If that's what Emily wants me to do, then that is what I will do," her voice broke at the end, and immediately Jason's arms were wrapped tightly around his sister. Trying to gently soothe her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Ali, this isn't right. This is not you two. You're better than this. I've seen the way you two are together. Hell, I've been watching Emily pine after you for the past 15 years. And I've seen how you are around her, she opens you up. She brings out the best in you."

"She is the best in me," Alison said quietly.

"Then isn't that enough?"

"I'm not the best in her," Alison replied, "She doesn't trust me. Never has, and Jason, more and more everyday I'm starting to think that she never will."

"She trusted you to have her children. She trusted you to become their mom. She trusted you enough to live with you. She trusted you enough to create a life with you. She trusted you enough to say 'yes' and to marry you. What else could there be?"

"I don't know. I feel like everyday she just makes up new tests for me, ones that I'm forced to fail. She doesn't want to believe that I'm in this. That this is my everything and this is what I want for forever."

"Have you told her all this?"

"More times than I can count," Alison said, finally removing herself from Jason's grasp.

"And I'm guessing it doesn't break through," Jason replied.

"It's funny," Alison started, "She always accuses me of wanting to run. But the first time that I stay and fight is the time that she tells me to leave. How's that for 'forever'?"

"Listen, Ali, you know how much I love the girls and Emily. But enough is enough. You guys are just chilling out in this grey area waiting for something to happen that's going to force one of you to make a decision. Go home, duke it out with your wife and figure out what is next. And if not for you, then for the twins. Pretty soon they're going to start understanding what is going on at home. And they deserve better than that. And so do you."

Jason was right, Alison knew that. They couldn't live in this grey area for forever. It wasn't fair to them and it wouldn't at all be fair to Lily and Grace. Once and for all, Alison was going to get answers.


	2. Chapter 2

"When do you fly out?" Alison asked a few hours later over a glass of wine.

"Tomorrow morning," Jason replied around his glass

""Can I ask a favor?"

"Ticket's all yours," Jason said, moving to get his phone to call the airport.

A smile broke out on Alison's face, and that was all the thanks that Jason needed.

"The next morning Alison was up before the sun rose. Her car would be coming to get her any minute, and her anxiety about what today would hold was through the roof.

Jason stood in the doorway to Alison's bedroom, watching her gather her belongings.

"What are you going to say to Emily?" he asked.

"I'm gonna ask once and for all what we're doing. Because you're right, Jason, this isn't fair. To anyone. But above all to the girls. They have to come first. And as much as I would hate it, if the best thing for them is the worst thing for me, then that is what I need to do."

"Spoken like a great mom," Jason said, looking at his sister proudly.

"Thank you," she said, moving to hug him once more before leaving, "for everything."

"You're my sister. Anytime you need me, I'm always here."

Before she knew it, Alison was back in an airplane seat and waving hello again to Pennsylvania. Though it may have been only a few weeks since she'd left, it felt like a lifetime ago that she'd walked the streets of her hometown.

She asked her driver to drop her off around the corner from her house, partly because she wanted to take in Rosewood again, and partly because she wanted to see if Emily's car was in the driveway.

She checked the time on her phone. Emily should still be at work, but would no doubt be home any minute.

Her nerves were shot and before she could talk herself out of it, she shoved her key in the door and walked inside. Everything was where she left it and she might have been imagining it but it still smelled faintly of the cookies she baked with the girls before she left.

She quickly hurried upstairs and grabbed their luggage from the attic. She brought the biggest one downstairs and made her way to her and Emily's bedroom. She stopped in the doorway, the realization of what today might bring dawning on her. The room was the same, as she thought it would be. The bed unmade, as always. Alison was always the one who made the bed. She couldn't help but wonder how many times in the past few weeks the twins had crawled into bed with Emily. And she couldn't help but wish she was there for it.

She lifted the suitcase and put it on their bed. She quickly ran back upstairs and started shuffling through the twins' wardrobe. God, they had a lot of clothes. Just as she was packing up the new raincoats they'd bought the girls, she heard someone shuffling through the house.

She knew immediately it would be Emily, so she grabbed the two newly packed suitcases and started to carry everything downstairs.

Emily was still in the foyer when Alison came down the stairs. Alison didn't say anything but she did take into account the shocked look on her wife's face.

"Ali?" Emily asked surprised "What are you doing here? What are you doing?" she asked when she'd seen the suitcases in Alison's hands.

"I'm packing the girls' things. I left a suitcase for you on the bed." Alison brushed off. She put the two suitcases on the couch and started grabbing random things from the living room, pictures, toys, books

"What? Where are we going?"

"Oregon. The three of you are coming with me."

"Ali, we can't," Emily said, the shock starting to wear off.

"Yes, you can. You just won't," Ali said, finally making eye contact, "Emily, I am not running. Not now, not ever. And I think I have done a pretty fair job at proving you that to you for the past 4 years. I am _here. _I am always here. I'm not going anywhere. You can trust me," Alison pleaded.

"You can't just swoop in and uproot our whole lives, Ali," Emily said, moving to put all the belongings back where Alison had plucked them from.

"Because you cared so much about uprooting mine? You're the one who basically kicked me out of my house and now have full-time custody of our kids."

"We both agreed that it was the right decision for you to go to Beacon Heights," Emily said, standoffishly.

"No, Em, _you_ thought it was the right decision. You didn't give _me_ much of a say in the matter."

Alison was starting to get frustrated again, and she knew Emily could hear it in her voice.

"Then, why did you go?" Emily said, her tone matching Alison's.

"I wasn't given any other choice!" Alison yelled, "You told me again and again to go! The first time that I'm not running from you when things get hard and you're the one shoving me out the door."

Emily didn't say anything.

"Emily, _what_ are you so afraid of?" Alison asked. This was it, once and for all. All on the table.

Emily was quiet for a moment, and Alison knew she was trying to figure a way out of this. It was a practice Alison knew all too well from Emily.

"I'm not doing this now," was all Emily said. That was the final straw.

"Then, you can call the lawyers and start having divorce papers drawn up."

Emily's eyes shot right up to meet Alison's.

"Is that what you want?" Emily asked, the slightest crack in her voice.

"No! I want you!" Alison yelled, "How many times do I have to tell you that before you hear me?"

Emily was quiet again.

"Emily," Alison said, waiting for Emily's eyes to reach her again, "Why don't you believe me when I say that?"

"I," Emily started, "I don't know."

"Can you come sit with me?" Alison asked, sitting down on their couch. Emily tentatively walked over and sat next to her. Alison waited a moment before reaching over and taking one of Emily's hands in both of hers. She had a silent victory when Emily didn't snatch it away.

She gently rubbed her thumb over Emily's thin, long fingers.

"I know that I never gave you reasons to trust me. I know that I hurt you. I know that I crushed you. Believe me, I know," Alison's voice started to crack, but she pushed through, "But I am not that person anymore. I want this, all of this. I want you, Emily, for forever. You have made me a better person and you have been my light in every dark situation. You make everything in life easier to bear. And you make parenting with you my favorite thing on this planet. You are the love of my life, Em and I will shout it in at the top of my lungs in the town square if you want me to."

Alison was relieved when she'd heard a slight chuckle come from Emily. She was on a good track here.

"But Emily, if what you want, is for me to walk away for good, then I need you to be upfront and to tell me. Because I will sit here and I will fight for you for the rest of my life if need be, but if it's going to go nowhere then, I need you to tell me. It's not fair to you or me. And more than that, it's not fair to the girls."

Emily still didn't say anything. But Alison knew her wife enough to know the signs of when she was breaking through. She continued on.

"But if there is the slightest part of you that still wants me, then know that I am here. Every minute of every day for the rest of my life. Every fiber of my being is your's Emily. But I need you to start trusting me."

Emily took in a deep breath, and Alison knew she was taking in everything she'd just heard. Slowly, Emily's brown eyes met Alison's and for the first time in months, Alison saw something behind them that made her heart burst.

_Hope_

"You are everything. When are you just going to believe that?" Alison said, squeezing Emily's hand gently.

"I don't know," Emily said again, and Alison felt herself start to crumble. She had gotten nowhere.

"But I think it's time I start trying," Emily said. When Alison's eyes shot up to meet Emily's, she saw the sweet smile on Emily's face. There she was.

They just looked at each other for a few moments, seemingly taking each other in like it was the first time they'd met.

"I'm sorry," Emily said, finally breaking the silence.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never gave you reasons to trust me."

"You gave me plenty," Emily rebutted, "I just never wanted to accept them. I think I've just been so scared that all of this is just going to get ripped away from me. That you'll just walk away again and again. And deep down, I know that you won't. I do, Ali, I know that. But it's just-"

"Hard," Alison finished for Emily.

"Yeah," Emily agreed, "But Ali, I want you. Every part of me wants you."

"Really?" Alison asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yes! God, I've been miserable here for weeks without you around," Emily confessed, her voice thick with tears.

"Oregon is awful without you."

"I'm sorry," Emily said again, "I feel like I'm never going to get done saying that."

"I'm sorry," Alison repeated.

They were quiet again, Alison knew that Emily was trying to find the way to say something.

"Don't-" Emily started, her voice cracking, "don't leave again."

Emily moved to wipe a tear from her cheek, but Alison's hand got there first. She cupped Emily's cheek in her hand and wiped her tear with the pad of her thumb. Emily leaned into the touch, and Alison smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere without you ever again," Alison promised.

Alison brought Emily's face closer, and leaned her forehead against Emily's. They stayed like this for a moment, just taking in each other's space again. Existing together, as one.

Emily was the first one to pull away, but she stayed close. She took the time to look at Alison, to take her all in again. Every inch that she'd come to know like the back of her hand. Her soft blonde hair, her bright blue eyes, the smile that always made her melt.

"Ali," Emily started.

"Can I-? Ali said at the same time.

Emily smiled brightly.

"Kiss me," she whispered.

Ali leaned in tentatively, nervously. Emily's fingers trembled as they gently reached for Alison's face. Their lips pressed together oh so gently, one of their infamous barely-there kisses.

It was like it was their first very kiss. And in some cases, maybe it was.

Ali traced Emily's jaw with her fingertips as she pulled away.

They sat in each other's arms for a moment, letting everything else melt away. Peace within each other's arms, like always.

"So I guess we're saying goodbye to this place, to home," Emily broke the silence a few moments later.

"Emily, wherever you are is home to me."


End file.
